Shinra Academy, School's Never Been as Hectic!
by The Super Twins
Summary: Cloud thought Shinra Academy was going to be boring, but throw in a flower girl half his friends have a crush on, emo guys with issues, normal guys with issues, an icy yet sweet childhood friend, one too many love triangles, and social group rivalries (bordering on a whole school war) and he's in for one heck of a time!
1. The New Kid at Shinra

Chapter I : The New Kid at Shinra

Cloud stared out of the window glumly, he tried to make a point of ignoring his mother but failed at all costs, answering every question she asked like the obedient child he had been raised to be.

"You're going to have a brilliant time, I know it!" His mother chortled, trying to lift her son's spirits.

But he wasn't going to have a good time, he could already see what a horrible time he was going to have. His mother had decided to enrol him in to a boarding school called Shinra Academy, a prestigious school that was very expensive (maybe not very, but it was most certainly not cheap). It was lucky his parents had decent salaries.

Cloud had never been a talkative person, not that he was the emo who hung out in the corner and glared at all passing people, he just wasn't talkative. He was just a quiet person, used to hanging out by himself. He had never been popular. He had never been hated. He'd just been the quiet loner at the back of the classroom, the shy one everyone forgot existed. He already knew it would be the same at this new school, this new school he didn't even want to go to.

"Cheer up, sweetie, it'll be fun!" His mother beamed at him.

"I hope so," Cloud muttered as he continued to stare glumly at his spiky blonde reflection.

Despite the fact hew as dreading this new school terribly he felt vaguely relieved when his mother finally drove through the school gates. His mother had to drive along a long road just to get to the school. It was long and straight, leaving Cloud to wonder what had prompted them to build the house so far away from the gate. Cloud had studied the map of the school, plus he'd been there a couple of times to look around, so he knew there were a lot more gardens to explore, the whole place was surrounded by them. It was just a shame there wasn't any woodland area to explore, although apparently there was a lake that Cloud had yet to see.

It didn't take his mother to pull the car into the car park at the front of the school. Cloud was glad the long journey was over. But as he looked out of the window he was engulfed by a sinking feeling. Outside it was clearly a break time of some sort, as students were all gathered around, engrossed in conversation, mucking about, playing sports, the general school break time activities. The worst part was this was only a minuscule part of the school, so Cloud knew there were hundreds more students waiting to engulf him. Cloud was already terrified enough as it was considering it was his first time at a boarding school, he was already joining late into the year, and now he had to walk through a bunch of strangers just to get to the head's office.

"Do you want me to come with you?" his mother inquired.

Cloud shook his head. "I'll be fine."

He opened the door and quickly got out of the car, walking around to the boot to collect his luggage. His mother climbed out too,

"I said I'll be fine," Cloud muttered as he lifted the heaviest suitcase out of the car.

"But you've got so much stuff, you can't possibly carry it all," his mother complained, and she pouted at Cloud.

"Mum, I haven't been taking lessons from dad for nothing. I can handle a few bags."

His father worked in the military, and had drilled many lessons into Cloud's skull. Cloud was as skilled as you could get when it came to fighting, so the only good thing about the new school was it claimed to have a specialty for many types of fighting, although Cloud hated showing off his fighting skills. He dreadfully despised attention.

The thing he pulled out of the car greatly contradict that; large sword, intricate details carved into the blade, in an equally intricately designed sheath. He strapped it to his back and gazed at his mother, whom smiled proudly at him. The sword was Cloud's prized possession, gifted to him by his grandfather. He refused to leave home without taking it with him, attached to it much like a lot of teenagers were attached to their phones. For Cloud, the sword represented strength, convincing him to be strong through all things, something his grandfather had told him (although it rarely worked). Somehow his mother had found a loophole which let Cloud bring a dangerous weapon to school. That was what she said anyway, Cloud was convinced she'd just bribed them. It was a school specialising in various types of fighting after all, why not bring a sword to school? Especially one he never used.

"Oh honey, I hope you have a good time!" His mother grinned and hugged him, and it was clear she was trying to hold back tears. "I'm going to miss you!"

Then why send me here? Cloud thought as he stood there awkwardly.

His mother stood back, wiping her eyes. "Will you come back for Christmas?"

"You know I will."

"Oh, I'm so worried about you!"

"I'll call you, don't worry."

"Every day?"

"Every day."

His mother sighed. Suddenly she smiled. "You know Tifa goes here, right?"

Cloud frowned. "Tifa?"

"Don't tell me you forgot Tifa!" His mother playfully pinched his cheek."Remember, your child hood friend?"

"Yes, yes, yes. I remember Tifa." Cloud looked at his mother.

"You two were so cute together!" his mother said with a grin. "Make sure you find her and say hi."

"I will, I will," Cloud replied, looking away and feeling slightly embarrassed.

After making sure he had everything, his mother kissed him on the cheek, him returning the gesture, before driving away. Cloud waved as the car disappeared from sight, sighing when he knew he was going to be alone for the next month.

He noticed a lot of the kids were already staring at him. He hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself as small as possible (which sucked because he was fairly tall), and picked up his bags, a rucksack slung over one shoulder and a suitcase in the opposite hand. He trudged to the main school building, pretending nobody was actually looking at him.

The entrance was rather large, with high ceilings and grand staircases, something Cloud assumed was common in mansions (the building had been formerly known as Shinra Mansion according to the school prospectus and website). There was a large desk directly in front of him, a single woman sat behind it. He assumed she was the receptionist. As he looked around he realised he had no idea where on earth he was going. He may have studied the map, but that didn't guarantee his memory would be any good. He considered grabbing a person and asking where he was supposed to go, but he really didn't feel like it, considering he didn't like talking to people.

Suddenly a voice broke the silence. "Are you lost?"

Cloud turned around, knowing a look of panic was on his face. He came face to face with a girl with long brown hair tied back. Her fringe stuck out in a weird style, while longer parts framed her face. She looked like a fairy in school uniform. Cloud suddenly felt underdressed in his hoodie and old jeans.

"No."

The girl laughed. "Of course not."

"Of course..." Cloud said, his voice quiet. He hadn't anticipated talking to people so soon.

"You must be looking for the head's office, right?" The girl smiled. "I can take you if you want."

Cloud pointed to the receptionist. "I was just going to ask for a map."

The girl looked slightly dishearten by this. "Oh well. I guess I'll see you later."

With that she ran away. Cloud frowned. What a strange girl.

After collecting a map, he walked around to find the head's office. The head, Mr Shinra, was a fairly round man. He greeted Cloud, wishing him a happy year. Shinra's office was fairly large, located on the first floor of the main building. It was quite a memorable place, so Cloud knew at least he would get lost if he needed to speak to Shinra.

The dormitories were a separate building, a little less grand than the main building, although still impressive, especially the stone archway leading to it. Cloud had been told to hang out there for the rest of the day as he was to start his lessons the next. Unfortunately though, the dormitories were quite far away, so Cloud had to walk through more people, getting more stares. He suddenly regretted bringing the sword with him, although he knew he'd get stares either way.

Luckily there were no more confrontations he had to face and he managed to walk all the way there in peace. He stopped by the stone archway to examine the building. A rather cuboid structure, quite small for the fact it needed to accommodate all its students, built primarily out of stone, with a small stone courtyard surrounding it where several kids were sitting at old picnic tables.

Cloud caught a group of kids staring intently at him. Cloud stared back then hurried inside where even more kids were sitting inside. Cloud knew this was the main common room, where they could all hang out. If he remembered correctly, the stairs to the left lead to the girls dormitory and the right lead to the guys, so Cloud flitted to the right staircase. Half way up was one corridor that lead to the males only common room and bathrooms, as well as a few rooms. Cloud skipped this floor, having been told his room was on the second floor. Walking up to more flights of stairs he found the floor where his room was. He ambled down the corridors, coming across the room where his was. Room 207, the seventh room of the second floor. Cloud fumbled for the key he had been given and unlocked the door, heading inside.

Inside there were two beds. Both were neatly made, and the whole room was fairly neat, although one half was slightly messier. Assuming the neater half was his Cloud put all his stuff away, resting his sword against the wall, then ambled over to examine his roommates things.

"Having fun are we?"

Cloud looked up, knowing full well his face was bright red. "Um, I'm sorry."

The guy whom had just walked in looked about Cloud's age, although was clearly taller. He had slightly messy black hair, his fringe parted in the middle. The top buttons of his shirt were undone and his tie was slightly loose but overall he looked rather presentable.

"It's okay, you're new, right?" the guy asked, staring at Cloud with his intense blue eyes.

Cloud nodded reverently. "Yes, Sir."

"Sir?" The guy laughed. "I like you already."

Cloud frowned.

The guy laughed again. "No need for formalities, the name's Zack."

"Cloud."

Zack smirked. "Cloud. Interesting name."

Cloud shrugged. "It wasn't my choice."

Zack laughed again as he searched through the draws on his desk. "I wonder what the world would be like if we did choose our names. I know full well I would have picked something ridiculous like Kefka."

Cloud tilted his head to the side. "That sounds like a clown's name."

Zack snorted. "You'll learn soon enough I'm the class clown, and not by choice either. Anyway, could be worse."

"Could have been called Snow," Cloud suggested.

"Or Lightning," Zack countered.

Cloud paused. "Lightning sounds like a cool name."

Zack laughed, and Cloud couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Then I guess I'll call, you Lightning from now on."

He pulled a piece of paper from the draw, examined it and stuffed it back in, Cloud watching. "Then I'll call you Kefka."

Zack smiled and waved another piece of paper. "Well, I've got to go now, lunch is nearly over so I've gotta run. I just came back to find my homework."

Cloud smiled back briefly. "I'll just be here."

Zack walked over to the door, turning back to look at Cloud one last time. "You're gonna love it here."

"Are you sure?"

Zack grinned. "Course I am. We put the disaster into disastrous. Why wouldn't you love it here?"

With that Zack left, leaving Cloud to dread even further about staying at the school. Disastrous didn't sound like his idea of fun.

With a sigh he wandered over and flopped on to his bed, staring at the ceiling, his gaze flickering over to the sword leaning against the wall. He thought about what his mother had said, about his childhood friend Tifa also attending the school. He smiled slightly. He hadn't seen her in years, he would be happy to see her, he hoped she'd be as happy too.

Little did Cloud know how the opposite was going to be true.

* * *

**Author Notes**

**I hope you liked this first chapter! I have an awful lot planned, so I hope to see you at the next one! This was inspired by the pictures by Chibiasta on deviantART, and a lot of the characters will act out of character at points. I hope to see you all soon!**

**~Kouta **


	2. Avalanche and Soldiers

Chapter II : Avalanche and Soldiers

Looking up from the book he was reading, Cloud watched as Zack walked back into the room.

"Lessons over for the day," Zack announced, closing the door behind him.

Cloud bent back the page he was on to use as a makeshift bookmark and closed the book, looking up at Zack. "Had a nice day?"

Zack shrugged. "Guess it was okay."

Cloud sat up. "Um..."

Zack dropped a rucksack on the floor and as on his own chair, staring back at Cloud. "Um?" Cloud looked away and Zack chuckled. "Not very talkative, are you?"

Cloud shook his head.

Zack just smiled. "Well, I told my friends about you, they wanna meet you."

"Th-they do?" Cloud asked.

"Sure they do." Zack grinned and stood up. "Everyone wants to meet the new guy."

Cloud smiled briefly. Maybe school wasn't going to be so bad.

"So, what I wanna know about is that sword of yours." Zack nodded to the sword leaning against the wall. "Is it real?"

Cloud nodded.

"No way!" Zack exclaimed and he walked over to the sword, reaching out a hand. He looked back at Cloud. "Can I?"

"Sure."

Zack picked up the sword and examined it. "How the hell were you allowed to bring a sword to school?"

Cloud shrugged. "I'm positive my mum bribed them."

Zack laughed. "Can I take it out the sheath?"

"Sure," Cloud said and he watched as Zack pulled out the sword and waved it around.

"The is awesome!" Zack exclaimed. "Why did you bring it here?"

Cloud explained how it was from his grandfather. "It comforts me, I guess."

Zack grinned. "A pretty bad ass comforter," he said then he cracked up, apologising for his dirty mind.

Zack put the sword back where it was originally. "Come on then, let's go to the common room."

"C-common room?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah." Zack put his hands on his hips. "Don't like people, huh?"

"Never liked attention much," Cloud said truthfully.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to drag you downstairs."

Zack grinned and grabbed Cloud by the arm, pulling him out of the room.

"Z-Zack!" Cloud exclaimed as he stumbled out into the corridor.

Zack locked the door and turned triumphantly at Cloud. "Left your key in there, didn't you?"

Cloud stared, gormless.

Zack laughed. "That means you can't get in without my keys." He shook them in front of Cloud's face. "Now come on. Were meeting the guys in the main common room."

Zack walked away down the corridor, Cloud hurrying after him. Main common room? So there would be girls there too. Brilliant. Cloud's social awkwardness was already being put to the test.

Zack strode down the stairs and into the common room. Cloud shuffled after him, greatly admiring his room mate's confidence. If only he had that much confidence too. Instead Cloud just ignored all the people shooting him weird looks and ran after Zack, whom lead him to a set of three sofas where three other guys were sitting. One had long silver hair and was sat straight, one leg crossed over the other. The guys sat next to him had black hair, much like Zack, and was slouched back against the sofa, his feet on the coffee table in front of him. The third and final one lay across a whole sofa, hogging it to himself, engrossed in a novel of some sort and hiding behind his scruffy brown hair.

"Hey, guys," Zack called as he came over. "I want you to meet Cloud."

The first two guys looked up, the third just continued to read.

"Cloud, an interesting name," the silver haired guy said.

Zack laughed. "We've already been through that, right, Lightning?"

Cloud smiled a small smile. "Yes, Kefka."

The black haired guy raised an eyebrow. "You've only been here a couple of hours and you already have a personal joke?"

Zack shrugged. "Things just happen like that." He walked around to the empty sofa ands at down. "Come on, Cloud. You're allowed to sit."

Cloud stood awkwardly for a second then ran around and sat next to Zack.

Zack indicated to a fruit bowl on the coffee table in front of them. "Feel free to have some."

"Don't eat the apples," the brown haired guy said suddenly.

"Why can't I eat the apples?" Cloud questioned.

The brown haired guy narrowed his eyes as Cloud. "Don't eat the apples."

Cloud just nodded. He decided it would be best not to eat anything.

"Let me introduce you to the guys," Zack said. He pointed to the silver haired guy. "This is Sephiroth, school idle and best fighter in our year." Next he pointed to the black haired guy. "This is Angeal. He's kinda like my brother, I think we were possibly split at birth." Finally he nodded towards the last guy. "That's Genesis."

"Don't I get a lengthy introduction, or am I not worth it?" Genesis mumbled, not looking up from his book.

"All right, all right. That's Genesis, obsessive play fanatic," Zack said.

"Why did my introduction have to make me sound like a weirdo?" Genesis asked. "Sephiroth and Angeal got cool intros that make them sound heroic, why can't I?"

"There's nothing wrong with being an obsessive play fanatic," Angeal said.

"He was only speaking the truth," Sephiroth muttered.

"Not good enough am I?" Genesis said scornfully.

"Genesis, infamous for his complaining and apple loving," Angeal said, throwing a look at Genesis. Genesis huffed.

"Weeeeeell, that's the guys," Zack said, turning to look at Cloud. "We basically run our year, everyone loves us. They even nicknamed us the 'Shinra Soldiers'."

"You'll learn Zack is the least modest guy here," Sephiroth said with a smirk.

"Hey! Well, it's try isn't it? Anyway." Zack leant back. "You're life's not gonna be boring with us to hang around with."

"I'm glad," Cloud said. "I thought I'd automatically be a loner."

Zack snorted. "A guy with your looks ain't ever gonna be a loner."

Cloud went slightly red. "Um, thank you?"

Sephiroth laughed. It wasn't hearty like Zack's laugh, it sounded more sinister. "It looks like you've picked up a shy little puppy, Zack."

"You're forgetting, it's Zack that's the puppy." Angeal laughed as Zack shot him a look. "Don't give me that look. We all know its true, you're always hyper."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

Sephiroth kept his gaze on Cloud. "It's perfectly possible to have hyper puppies and shy puppies."

Cloud tried his best to smile. "I guess I'm the shy type of puppy then. I've never been keen on interacting with people."

Angeal chuckled. "Much like Genesis, eh?"

Genesis didn't reply.

"Genesis, stop being a rude jerk and actually pay attention to the new guy." Angeal lifted up a foot and was in range for him to give the obsessive play fanatic a kick.

Genesis grumpily snapped his book shut. "Hey, you just interrupted King Duncan's death scene."

"I couldn't care less about King Duncan from Hamlet or whatever-"

"Macbeth."

"Ergh. I couldn't care less about King Duncan from Macbeth." Angeal corrected himself. "What I do care about is your rudeness."

Genesis sneered at Angeal then looked at Cloud. "They told you who I am. Genesis Rhapsodos. Obsessive play fanatic and the school weirdo," he said sardonically.

"Not the school weirdo, there are weirder people," Zack remarked as they all ignored Genesis.

"Like who?" Cloud asked.

"Avalanche," Sephiroth muttered with spite.

Cloud frowned. "Avalanche?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Now they're weirdos."

Cloud looked at Zack. "Who are Avalanche?"

Zack sighed. "Well, they're Eco-freakos."

"Nature pot heads." Angeal put his feet back on the coffee table.

"Nature pot heads?" Cloud mimicked.

Angeal nodded.

"Why are they called Avalanche?" Cloud questioned.

"Dunno, they just picked it up, named themselves Avalanche like the freaks they are," Sephiroth muttered.

"We can't say much, can we?" Zack counters and he looked at Cloud. "People have nicknamed us as the 'Shinra Soldiers', mainly because we're the best fighters in our class."

"Talking about fighting, planning on taking any fighting classes, Cloud?" Angeal asked earnestly.

"You look like you'd be a pretty decent fighter," Zack said, leaning back and examining Cloud. "Not too bad built."

"Eh?"

"Oh, and of course you have that sword..."

"Tell me about the sword," Sephiroth suddenly interjected. "I saw you with it, is it real?"

Cloud didn't get to answer because Zack was already speaking rather enthusiastically. "You bet it is! I even swung it around. It's awesome."

"Really?" Sephiroth asked, sounding intrigued.

Zack nodded. "It's so-"

"Can we get back to the question?" Angeal asked nonchalantly. "Taking any fighting classes?"

Cloud nodded. "I'm taking hand to hand combat, because I want to improve on it, as well as fencing. That's the only sword skills they have here."

The others' faces all lit up, excluding Genesis whom had gone back to reading Macbeth.

"We're all taking fencing!" Zack exclaimed.

"You'll presumably be in our class then," Angeal said.

"Assuming you're in our year," Sephiroth said and he glanced at Cloud as if to ask 'what year are you in?'.

"I'm in year twelve," Cloud said slowly.

"Twelve?" Zack asked. "Then yeah, you'll be in our class! I assumed as much though, considering you are my roommate and all."

Cloud nodded. "So you're all year twelve?"

Angeal nodded. "Yeah, we all are."

Sephiroth chuckled. "If you're any good you've rightfully earned a place with us."

"Yeah, that means you're lucky, you get to sit on the comfy sofas everyday." Zack patted the sofa they were sitting on. Cloud frowned. "Well, we just seemed to own this part of the common room."

"The four of you? Out of the whole school...?" Cloud continued to frown.

Zack laughed. "Not the whole school, this dormitory building is for years twelve and thirteen only. Everyone else have other places."

Oh, no wonder why the dormitory building seemed a tad too small.

It seemed like Zack was about to say more when a screeching yell filled the room.

"Cid Highwind, you fucktard! Give me back my homework or I'll fucking clobber you one!"

Suddenly a blonde guy came sprinting through the common room, dodging a table and pushing past people. A dark brunette girl then came sprinting through after him and just simply leapt over they table and caught up to the guy. She pounced on him and they both tumbled to the ground. A big built black guy strolled after them, a smirk on his face.

"That's Avalanche," Sephiroth said with a grumble.

Cloud watched the scene intently. The girl snatched some paper from the blonde guy's hand and stood up triumphantly, a snarky grin on her face. She kept a foot on his chest "You're lucky I didn't punch your face in."

"A sweetie like you wouldn't do a thing like that," the guy said sarcastically, earning a swift kick to the side of his face. "Fuck! Bitch, that hurt!"

"It was supposed to," the girl grinned evilly and stepped off him.

The black guy held a hand out to the guy on the floor. The blonde guy muttered something and gratefully took his hand. Once standing he pulled he pulled something out of his coat pocket, earning a punch on the arm from the girl.

"Not inside!" she exclaimed.

"Fuck you," the guy muttered, stuffing whatever it was back into his pocket.

"Fuck you too," the girl said, childishly sticking her tongue out.

"Fuck you both," the black guy said and the three of them laughed.

Now the three of them were standing Cloud took in the details. The black guy had fairly large muscles and looked like he could take on a whole army, or just crush Cloud with a single hand. He looked even more macho with his buzz cut, which Cloud was sure wasn't actually allowed in the school, and stubble on his chin. He had a strange fashion sense, only wearing a glove on his right hand and not his left, as if he was trying to pull off a naff Michael Jackson impression.

The blonde guy looked old for his age, stubble already growing on his chin, just lik with the black gut, although not as much. He was pretty scruffy, wrinkles on his forehead from his permanent frown. His school tie was thrown loosely around his neck.

Finally Cloud gazed at the girl. She had dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black, down to her waist and tied at the end. She wasn't wearing a school jumper or tie, and the first several buttons of her shirt were undone. Her skirt was incredibly short, you could nearly see her backside (a rather nice backside Cloud had to admit). Cloud also couldn't help but notice how large her breasts were, and her really tight shirt didn't help to draw attention away from them. Cloud's eyes just drifted over the curves of her body, soaking up every detail. She looked incredibly, well, sexy, to be honest.

Cloud shook his head. It was wrong to look at a girl that way.

"That's Avalanche?" Cloud asked. He couldn't help but notice how everyone in the room seemed to be glaring at them.

"Yeah, that's Avalanche," Zack said. He looked over sadly.

"The blonde guy is Cid Highwind, infamous for smoking a billion fags a day," Angeal said dryly. "The black guy is Barrett Wallace."

"He's a paedophile," Genesis remarked with out looking up.

"A paedophile..." Cloud asked as Angeal gave Genesis another light kick, although Genesis ignored it and continued reading.

"Just ignore Genesis," Zack whispered.

"So, who's the girl then?" Cloud asked, pretending not to be mesmerised by her beauty.

"That's Tifa Lockhart, the so called 'school slut'," Sephiroth said.

Cloud's eyes widened. "T-Tifa!?"

Not realising how loud he'd actually spoken, Tifa heard her name being called. She looked around the room, giving everyone an icy glare. Her gaze eventually settled on Cloud and she stared at him momentarily. Cloud don't know whether she was looking at him because she knew he was the one whom had called or name, or if she was looking at him because he was a kid she didn't recognise. Maybe both. Either way she gave Cloud an equally as icy glare and turned to the guys next to her.

"Come on guys, let's go," she said and with that she swivelled around on her heal and stalked off upstairs, although Cloud noticed she headed up the stairs to the guys' rooms. Barret and Cid both looked at Cloud and followed Tifa up the stairs.

"What was that about?" Angeal asked, raising an eyebrow at Cloud. Cloud just turned brought red and hung his head.

"Hey, he's new, cut our shy little puppy some slack." Zack patted Cloud on the back. "It was nothing, r-right, Cloud?"

"Well, stay away from her, she's the school whore," Genesis muttered, ignoring yet another kick from Angeal.

Cloud just looked at where Tifa had gone. Was she really what the others said she was? Cloud wasn't so sure. Just because she had a rather sizeable chest and dressed in a rather, well, provocative way, didn't mean she was a slut, did it? Cloud refused to pass judgement, he'd wait until he could meet Tifa properly.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**So, Cloud's in with the popular kids, eh? Well, now you've got to met Tifa and the Avalanche crew, yes I know Cid's not a part of Avalanche, but whatever, just live with it. He is here.**

**And, for Americans, Year Twelve is 16/17 years olds (depending on how late you're born in the year)**

**Hope to see you at the next chapter where we get to see more of Aerith!**

**-Kouta**


	3. Dinner Time

Chapter III: Dinner Time

Cloud sat quietly with the Shinra Soldiers, spending the whole time thinking about Tifa. Was she really a slut like they said she was? He didn't think so, he could still imagine the sweet kid he'd been friends with so long ago. He didn't have time to reminisce, however, because Zack was pulling him to his feet.

"It's time to go to dinner," Zack said with a grin. "I'm starving! I can finally have something to eat!"

As soon as Zack had mentioned that cloud realised how hungry he was himself. "Oh, me too."

"Let's go," Sephiroth said and he stood up and walked away.

"Genesis, are you coming?" Angeal asked, glancing over.

"Not hungry."

Angeal kicked Genesis lightly before standing up. "Put your book away and come to dinner."

Genesis huffed and snapped his book shut.

"Come on, Sephiroth's already gone!" Zack said and he grabbed Cloud and pulled him out of the common room, Angeal and Genesis close behind.

It was after they caught up to Sephiroth Cloud realised how popular the Shinra Soldiers really were. Lots of people would wave to them as they walked past, throwing them all flirtatious looks. Sephiroth would walk coolly ahead, Zack grinning back at all the girls while Angeal waved back to one or two people. Genesis walked next to Angeal, head down. Cloud realised it rather mimicked how Cloud was walking with Zack, head down, shuffling behind, afraid to be split from the certain person they were with. Angeal attempted to keep up a conversation with Genesis but Genesis only ever replied with grunts, huffs and one word replies. It was rather the same with Cloud and Zack, although Cloud's replies were timid, not irritated. Zack ended up talking to Sephiroth instead.

Cloud also couldn't help but notice that several people would look at him and then obviously whisper about him. It was mainly girls trying to catch his attention, which Cloud was careful not to give to anyone.

Apart from her. He caught sight of the brown haired girl whom had asked him if he was lost. She was walking alone, but she didn't seem bothered by it. She had her head held high, a small smile on her face. Cloud had to admit, she was kind of pretty.

Suddenly she looked in Cloud's direction. She smiled and waved at him. Instead of waving back, Cloud looked away, his face bright red.

"What's up with you?" Zack asked, nudging Cloud with his elbow. "Someone caught you're eye?"

"N-no," Cloud said quickly.

"Stop pestering the poor lad, Zack," Sephiroth said, and he smiled coolly at Cloud. Cloud wasn't particularly sure whether he should have trusted Sephiroth or not.

Eventually they reached the dinner hall. It was truly humongous, but Cloud still wondered how all the students were meant to fit in there, because surely it wasn't big enough. Maybe there wasn't as many students as he thought there were (he'd most likely deluded himself into thinking there were more because of his social awkwardness).

The guys explained how there was a designated section for each year group. Each year group was only had about fifty to a hundred kids in it. Looking around, Cloud guessed the room could easily sit 700 pupils, as well as all the teachers, so yeah, possibly they could all fit in.

There were several large tables around the room, all neatly organised. All the tables were covered in a variety of plates of food. It definitely looked like Cloud would be able to get more than his fair share. Sephiroth lead the way to a certain section of one of the tables. Several kids were already sitting there.

"Move," Sephiroth said rather rudely. "We need to make space for the new guy."

The people sat at the table moved with out another word. Cloud frowned at Zack whom just shrugged.

So they all sat down, Angeal and Genesis one side and Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud the other.

"So, we just wait here for food?" Cloud asked, looking at the people whom had just moved.

"Pretty much, yeah," Zack replied leaning forward on his elbows.

Cloud sat there awkwardly, wondering what he was supposed to say next. Eventually he didn't have to worry because he looked up and spotted the brown haired girl from before. She caught his eye and waved at him before running over. She came and sat in front of Cloud, giving him a large, warm smile. The Shinra Soldiers stared at her wide eyed, all clearly thinking 'why is she sitting there?'

"Did you find you're way to the head's office in the end?" she asked, ignoring the looks the others were giving her and just focussing on Cloud.

"Um, yeah," Cloud said hesitantly.

She smiled. "That's good then. Although you really should have let me take you there."

Cloud glanced at Zack next to him then back at the girl.

"Uh, why?" Cloud asked.

The girl giggled. "Because then I could have been you're first friend."

Cloud felt himself go slightly red. "Um..."

The girl laughed. "You're pretty shy, aren't you?"

Cloud went even more red. "Y-yes. I don't tend to talk to people."

"Well, you better start getting used to it if you're gonna hang out with these guys." She waved a dismissive hand towards the other guys. "They're pretty well known. People are gonna talk a lot to you."

"Uh, okay?" Cloud frowned.

"Well, I'll leave you guys too it." The girl smiled and stood up, then turning to look at Zack. "Oh, hello, Zack! I didn't see you there! I'll see you later!"

She gave Zack an extremely large and warm smile, and a little wave, before turning and partially skipping, partially walking away.

Everyone turned and stared at Zack.

"What? What are those looks for?" Zack asked. Sephiroth looked like he was about to say something but Zack just turned to Cloud. "That was Aerith. You'll get to know her as the flower girl. She can be quite sweet, but isn't afraid to speak her mind. The words just kinda...tumble out of her mouth."

"Oh, okay."

"She's another school weirdo," Genesis muttered crudely.

"She is not a weirdo," Zack said.

"Why are you being so defensive? She is." Genesis opened his book and started to read.

"You brought that to dinner with you?" Angeal asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

"Well it wasn't like you gave me a chance to put it away."

Angeal thought about this. "Oh, you're right."

In the mean time Sephiroth looked at Zack. "Does our little puppy have a crush on the flower girl."

Zack snorted. "No, I don't have a crush on anyone."

Angeal decided to leave Genesis alone and tune in to the others' conversation. "Well she clearly has a massive crush on you."

"I don't think she does," Zack said earnestly.

"Boy does she have a crush on you," Angeal said. "You can't really deny it."

"You don't always have to be nice to her," Sephiroth said.

"Yes I do, because that's who I am, Mister Nice Guy. I have to be nice to all the ladies." Zack flashed a grin at Cloud. "I love all the ladies."

"We know." Angeal rolled his eyes.

"Always flirts with them," Sephiroth muttered.

"Well, I guess every girl just loves me, don't they?" Zack said rather immodestly.

Angeal rolled his eyes. "Really? Now why would our puppy think that."

"Because I am the prince of the school, obviously!" Zack said loudly, throwing his arms dramatically in the air, causing a few people to look over. "Everyone idolises me."

"Really? I quite remember you telling Cloud that I was the school idol," Sephiroth said, smiling coyly at Zack. "Doesn't that make me the prince?"

"Hmm, no," Zack said, putting his arms down. "I can certainly say I am the prince of this school. Or our year at least."

"You probably have the same amount of fangirls," Angeal said with another eye roll.

"Yeah, and we know who's in charge of Zack's fanclub." Sephiroth chuckled. "Sweet little Cissnei."

"No kidding." Zack laughed. "Surely that means I'm the prince though? My fangirls are more dedicated."

Sephiroth smiled. "Then if you're the prince, I'm the king."

Zack pondered this. "Yeah, exactly. Although you can't deny it, the girls love me more."

"Nobody can deny it." Sephiroth smiled.

Suddenly Genesis spoke up. "The prince of the school is Rufus."

"Genesis, were having fun," Zack said. "Why do you have to be so serious all the time."

Sephiroth looked at Angeal. "Angeal, hit him."

Angeal hit Genesis, although Genesis didn't seem to bothered.

While this was happening Cloud let his gaze drift across the hall. He caught sight of Avalanche entering, although this time there were three more people with them, a skinny guy, a chubby guy and another girl whom was chatting away to Tifa. Cloud stared at Tifa. This time, instead of looking at her womanly attribute he gazed at her face. She was an awful lot prettier than he had remembered her being, possibly because the last time they'd seen each other they were quite a bit younger. He watched her hand actions as she tried to explain something to the girl with her, whom was nodding intently.

Cloud then caught sight of a young girl with brown hair running towards was fairly small, so Cloud assumed she was in year seven, the youngest year at Shinra Academy, so she couldn't be any older than eleven or twelve. She ran straight over to Barret, waving at him. Barret waved back, reaching out his un-gloved hand and ruffling her hair. A teacher walked over and said something to the small group. Barret held out a fist and the girl bumped her own against his then ran back to her own table while Avalance went to find a place to sit for themselves, warm smiles on their faces. They didn't seem like bad people, despite what the Soldiers said.

"Why don't we talk about Cloud instead, huh?" Cloud heard Zack say, so he turned his attention back to the guy next to him.

"What about me?" he asked.

"Do you have a crush on Aerith?" Angeal asked.

"W-what? No! I've not even been here a day. Don't ask me things like that!"

They all just laughed and Zack slapped Cloud on the back. "You'll get used to it. Come on, let's just eat."

Simultaneously they all reached out to grab food and put it on the plates in front of them. Cloud hesitated, wondering what on earth he was supposed to eat first. Eventually he decided to grab a chicken leg.

"Mind if I join you guys?" some one asked. The five of them looked up.

"No problem, sit down," Sephiroth said.

A guy with shoulder length blonde hair pushed back behind his ears, sat in the seat Aerith had been sat in.

"This is my room mate, Lazard," Sephiroth said to Cloud.

"New guy, huh?" Lazard said, looking at Cloud.

"I'm Cloud," Cloud said quickly to get the introduction over and done with. He paused. "Are you a Shinra Soldier too?"

"Nah," Lazard said, taking some food and putting it onto his plate. "I'm more of a flitter, I flit between social groups. Rare type of person."

"You don't mix with other social groups," Zack said to Cloud with his mouth full. "But there are a couple of people like Lazard who float around."

"Mainly spend my time with these guys or the Turks," Lazard said.

"Turks?"

Lazard looked at the others. "Haven't told him about the Turks yet?" They all shook their heads. "Well, you could basically consider the Turks Rufus' groupies."

"Rufus?" Cloud remembered that name had been brought up earlier.

"Hmm, Rufus Shinra, the head's son."

Oh, so that's what Genesis meant when he had said Rufus was the prince of the school.

The rest of dinner was just spent chatting away. Cloud tried his best to join in the conversation, but his social awkwardness couple with his lack of knowledge of the school made it a rather difficult fête. Luckily the conversation never came back around to Cloud, so he was all right.

When dinner was over Cloud noticed pretty much every student stuffed as much food into their pockets as they could, even the members of the Shinra Soldiers. Zack told Cloud it was because they couldn't really snack during the day (apart from the fruit bowls in the common room) so everyone took as much food as they could from the meals they were served. Apparently the teachers and other members of staff didn't care, as long as the food was being eaten. It would be thrown away otherwise.

So they left the room, Genesis tucking his book into the back of his trousers, covering it with his shirt, so he could use both hands to pick up two whole plates of apple pie. The teachers didn't seem to care about that either. Since all Cloud had was a couple of roast potatoes and sausages in his pockets he grabbed a whole bowl of chicken as he passed by. Zack looked at Cloud and laughed, Cloud just shrugging.

As they left Cloud caught sight of Aerith once more. She smiled and waved at him and so, deciding he wouldn't be rude this time, Cloud held the bowl of chicken in one arm and waved back.

It seemed like Shinra Academy was going to be fun after all.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**I've had some rather nasty comments on the last chapter concerning Tifa. I've been accused of horrible characterisations and need to 'grow up' because I'm calling her a slut. No, I am not. I adore Tifa. The only reason she is accused of being a slut is that it's the base of the fact this story will deal with major issues of bullying. All my characters are realistic. Avalanche is inspired by me and my friends, whom were the outcasts back at school, and hated by everyone (which is why I take offence to the terrible characterisation). We had tonnes of nasty comments said to us, but no one knew who we really were. It's the same with the Soldiers and Avalanche, they don't know who they are. But you WILL get to know them and like them. I don't think girls with big boobs are sluts, I think they're just like any other girl (I have friends with massive boobs, I am no judge, and I have plenty of respect for my own gender, thank you).**

**Anyways, sorry to the people whom were actually nice to me and thanks for reading! I wasn't going to post the chapter so soon but I needed to reply to the guest reviews. Well, we gotta see more of Aerith, I'll see you at the next chapter!**

**~Kouta**


	4. Clouds and Strife Make Lightning

Chapter IV: Clouds and Strife Make Lightning

"Wake up, sleepy head. You're gonna be late for breakfast otherwise."

Cloud opened his eyes and stared lazily up at Zack. "It's morning already?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah, so you might wanna get up now."

Cloud pushed back his covers and slowly climbed out of his bed.

"You might wanna go have a quick shower," Zack said. "You would have seen your towel and soap in your cupboard and draws and stuff when putting your things away."

"Are you coming to the showers with me?" Cloud asked.

Zack held out his arms. "I'm already showered and dressed."

Cloud stared at Zack with wide eyes. "You mean I have to go on my own?"

"Cloud, you're seventeen-"

"Actually I'm sixteen, seventeen soon."

Zack paused. "Ha, I'm older than you! Well, anyway, as I was saying, you're fourteen, you can go to the showers by yourself."

Cloud muttered. "But people will be there."

"People are everywhere, Cloud."

Eventually Cloud gave up and picked up his towel and soap and headed to the showers by himself. To his relief there was only one other guy in the room, standing and looking at himself in the mirror. Cloud wondered whether he was just narcissistic or just examining how sick he looked.

Cloud picked a shower and headed inside, pulling the curtain across and putting all his stuff on the shelves. He stripped and went to turn the shower on, however, he realised he had no idea how. He grabbed his towel, wrapped it around his bottom half, sticking his head out of the curtain.

"Um, excuse me?" he called to the only other guy in the room. "Do you mind telling me how to use the shower."

The guy turned around and looked at Cloud. He was wearing blood red pyjamas, something that would attract any one's attention from a mile away. His long scruffy black hair hung over his eyes. He looked pretty pale, kind of like a vampire.

"Sure," the guy said.

He walked over, Cloud pushing back the curtain so he could come inside. The guy showed him how to use the shower, turning it on and spraying them both slightly. Cloud thanked the guy. The guy just nodded and walked out of the shower.

"Oh, sharing a shower, are we?" someone asked.

Cloud looked out to see a guy with shocking red hair tied back in a loose ponytail standing in the bathrooms.

"Shut up, Reno," the other guy said.

The red-head, Reno, just smirked. "Why should I?" He disappeared into a shower.

The black haired guy looked at Cloud. "Ignore him. I'll be in the shower next to you if you need me."

Cloud let his curtain fall, hearing the other guy's shower turn on. Cloud stepped into his own.

"I'm Cloud," Cloud said, deciding to muster up his courage and introduce himself.

"I'm Vincent, Vincent Valentine," the other guys said, raising his voice slightly so he could be heard over the shower.

"Cloud Strife," Cloud said, deciding he might as well state his full name too."

"You're the new guy, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'd recommend you stay away from the Shinra Soldiers," Vincent said.

Cloud squeezed a whole lot of shampoo on to his hair. "Why?"

"They can be right jerks."

They both turned their showers off simultaneously.

"They...they didn't seem too bad."

"Trust me, everyone may idolise them but it doesn't mean they're nice." Vincent paused. "Even Zack, whom seems to be really nice at first can be a right jerk."

Cloud thought about it. Surely Zack wasn't bad; he seemed too nice to be anything like a jerk, not very modest maybe, but not a jerk.

As they both stepped out of their showers, Vincent turned to Cloud. "It was nice talking to you. I probably won't speak to you again, so I'll wish you a good year."

"What? Why won't you speak to me again?" Cloud asked with a frown.

"I'm a loner; I like to stick to myself." He gave Cloud one last nod then left.

"You'll find a lot of the people here are loners."

Cloud turned around to see the guy Reno standing there. "Huh?"

"Loners, there are an awful lot of loners." Reno repeated. "This whole school is about social groups, surely the soldier guys told you about that. If you don't fit in one, you're a loner."

Cloud nodded. "So, what are you a part of."

Reno stuck out his hand. "Reno of the Turks, nice to meet you."

Cloud took Reno's hand and shook it. "Cloud of the Soldiers, I guess."

"Well, Cloud of the Soldiers, you might wanna be getting your stuff ready." Reno grinned. "Lessons start soon."

* * *

Zack snatched Cloud's timetable from his hands' before Cloud had the chance to look at it properly. Sure he had glanced at it once or twice the previous day, but he hadn't paid any attention to it, apart from his first ever lesson at the school was going to be maths.

They were all in Cloud's and Zack's room, Cloud sitting down on his bed while the others all stood. Cloud was still eating a bread roll from breakfast (breakfast was just the same as dinner, only it was breakfast stuff).

The Shinra Soldiers all looked over Zack's shoulders to take a look at Cloud's timetable, simultaneously drawing in their breath. Genesis snickered.

Zack handed Cloud's timetable back. "You're with us first period."

Cloud frowned. "Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"Well of course it is!" Zack said with a grin. "Just you have the most brilliant choice of your first teacher."

Cloud frowned more and looked down at his time table. Printed under the word 'maths' was the name 'Miss C Farron'.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say she's pretty horrible," Cloud said slowly.

Angeal nodded. "Strictest teacher here."

"That's what you get when you cross a maths teacher with a fencing teacher," Sephiroth mentioned.

Cloud looked back down at his timetable at his other teachers. He reached a certain one and frowned. "Miss S Farron?"

"Hmm, Miss C and Miss S are sisters," Zack explained.

"C stands for cruel, S stands for sweet," Sephiroth said.

Miss Cruel and Miss Sweet? They already sounded interesting.

"Come on, got your bag ready?"

Cloud tilted his head to the side. "Why would I need to get my bag?"

"To carry your stuff in, duh." Zack hit Cloud on the forehead.

Cloud rubbed his head. "But can't we just go back to our rooms to get our stuff?"

"Not in between lessons, you can't, and sometimes we just don't return to our dorm all day," Zack said. "Just take your rucksack."

Cloud got up and grabbed his rucksack from the floor. "Okay."

"Grab your pencil case and whatever, and let's go," Sephiroth said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"On it. On it," Cloud said, packing the little things he actually had.

"God, you're so slow," Genesis muttered, taking a bite from an apple.

"Shut up, Genesis," Angeal muttered, hitting his friend in the back of the head. Genesis turned and glared at Angeal, but said nothing.

Eventually Cloud was ready so after leaving the room and locking the door, the five of them headed through the school, Sephiroth leading the way. They stopped outside a class room where a whole class of kids their age was waiting. Cloud could recognise a few faces. He spotted Vincent leant against the wall with his arms crossed, alone. Lazard was stood talking with a black haired guy, and Reno was also there, chatting away to a bald guy with darker skin and sunglasses, before turning his attention to a girl with blonde hair cut stylishly to her chin, whom was trying her best to ignore him and just talk to the other girl that was there, a girl with wavy mousy brown hair. The second girl looked up and spotted them and, completely ignoring the blonde girl, walked over to them. The blonde girl rolled her eyes then gave up and talked to Reno. Cloud noticed that Aerith wasn't there, and neither was Tifa.

"Hey, Zack," the wavy haired girl called, clearly putting on a sultry voice.

"Hey," Zack said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms, just like Vincent.

The girl didn't pay any attention to the other guys there, she just focused on Zack. "Sooo, how are you today, Zack?"

"Aha, I'm an owner today," Zack said with a grin and he ruffled Cloud's hair. "He's my puppy now. "

The girl glanced briefly at Cloud, not looking particularly interested in him. She looked back at Zack. "Really…? Well, I'll always think of you as my little puppy."

Zack just laughed. "Cloud, have you met Cissnei? Wait, why am I even asking that? OF course you haven't. Cloud, Cissnei, Cissnei, Cloud. Hope you get along."

Cissnei didn't even bother to look at Cloud. "Sure, we will."

Cloud remembered the name Cissnei from dinner the day before. The rabid Zack fangirl. Yup, he could already tell she was obsessed with him.

"Shut up! No creating a racket in the corridors!"

Everyone immediately turned silent, even Zack. Cloud looked at him with a frown.

"That's Miss Farron," Zack whispered. "You better do as she says and shut up. She'll kill you otherwise."

Cloud nodded and looked down the corridor at where Miss C Farron's voice had come from. There, he saw an interestingly dressed woman with pink hair thrown over her left shoulder approach them. Dressed in a miniskirt and waistcoat that bared her midriff, Cloud was highly sure she wasn't supposed to be dressed like that, being a teacher and all. He didn't say anything though.

She eyed them all with suspicion, a frown on her face. "That's better. Now go on, go inside."

"Yes, Miss Farron," the class chorused and they all slunk into the class room.

Following Cissnei, the Shinra Soldiers were the last to enter. Zack grinned at her as he passed by, only for her to give him an incredibly icy glare. Cloud was the last to enter, and he glanced up at his teacher only to look quickly away. She frowned at him, but it wasn't an annoyed frown; it was much more similar to Cloud's confused frown. Her face clearly said 'new student?'.

Cloud looked back around at her, realising she hadn't entered yet. She looked both ways down the corridor, shook her head and sighed before muttering to herself, "Late as usual."

Zack dragged Cloud over to a certain table.

"Hey, Seph," he called. "I'm gonna sit with Cloud on the spare table, you cool sitting with only Angeal and Genesis?"

"Cool as a cucumber," Sephiroth replied and he pulled out a chair at a different table and sat down, Genesis sitting down next to him with Angeal on the other side of Genesis.

"Come on, Cloud, sit down," Zack said as he too pulled out his own chair.

Cloud stood there hesitantly before sitting down. He glanced around the class, whom were all already sorting out their things, and sat their patiently, only a pencil case and A5 notebook with him.

Miss Farron closed the door and walked inside, walking over to her desk. Cloud noticed how she seemed to strut instead of walk normally, as if she was constantly on a catwalk. She leant against her desk with one hand and stared out at the class. She looked around until her eyes rested on Zack.

"Mr Fair," she said coolly. "I believe you're sitting in the wrong seat."

Zack tried his best to sound polite. "Yeah, I am."

The teacher frowned. "Move back."

Zack looked at Cloud then back at the teacher. "But Cloud's new and doesn't have anyone he knows to sit next to, so I thought I'd sit next to him. Make sure he's not alone."

Miss Farron glared at Zack, and it looked like she was about to say something, just at the classroom door was thrown open.

Tifa was standing in the doorway, a big grin on her face. "Sorry I was late, Miss."

Their teacher immediately seemed to forget Zack and turned her attention to Tifa. "Tifa, nice of you to finally join us."

Tifa cocked her head to one side, hands on hips and smirk on her lips. "I thought I'd bless everyone with my presence."

There were a few snickers from several members of the class. Neither Tifa of their teacher seemed to care.

"Care to take a seat?" Miss Farron asked, gesturing for Tifa to come inside.

"I'd love to, Lightning," Tifa said, closing the door and strutting inside.

Miss Farron frowned. "What did you just call me?"

Tifa giggled and spun on her heel to face the teacher. "Sorry, I meant Miss Farron."

Their teacher smirked and shook her head. "Just take a seat."

Tifa saluted and walked to the back of the class where she slunk inside.

"Lightning? " Cloud asked Zack.

"It's her nickname," Zack explained. "Pretty much the entire school call her that, even some of the teachers." Zack then paused then laughed. "I've just realised, you have the same nicknames! Lightning!"

"Zack Fair, if you mention that name one more time I will force you to move back to your old seat, then put you into detention, you understand?" Lightning didn't sound too pleased.

"Yes, Miss Farron!" Zack said quickly.

Lightning gave him one last glare before picking up a pen and calling out the register. Once she came to the end she looked up at Cloud. "Name?"

"Cloud Strife, Miss."

"And what do you get when you get strife inside a cloud?" Zack asked. "Lightning!"

Lightning looked at Zack and gave him a death glare. "You are-"

"Miss, are we going to go through the homework today?" Tifa suddenly yelled out. "I got stuck, do you mind helping me?"

Lightning turned her attention to Tifa. "Of course we are, don't worry."

"Looks like the second time in five minutes Tifa has saved you," Cloud whispered.

"Strife, I will not have talking in my class!" Lightning snapped.

Cloud flushed red. "S-sorry, Miss!"

"Wassup, Cloud?" Zack asked, lifting back strands of Cloud's hair so he could see his face.

"N-nothing," Cloud said. "I just didn't fancy getting told off in the first few minutes of my first lesson."

"Get your homework out, and we'll mark it," Lightning said. "Cloud, I will get you a book. Tifa, I'll be over in a minute."

Cloud looked back over his shoulder when Lightning called out Tifa's name and looked at the girl sitting at the back. But as he looked back he realised she was staring at him, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. Cloud quickly looked back around and waited for Lightning to give him a book.

With that the lesson started.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**So, all the teachers are going to be characters from other games, so that I can still use all the VII cast for the students.**

**Why Lightning is a maths teacher I don't know. I just thought it suited her.**

**See you at the next chapter!**

**~Kouta**


End file.
